[jonot]

I'm looking for info that is probably already written down somewhere. I've searched Outerlimits and heaps of other forums and websites, put together a list and want to find out what I have missed.

I want to put a 1.6 EFI motor into my sierra. Essentially I'm after the easiest installation but want to keep in mind that I'll be doing 4Bing, so any recommendations about the type of motor to look out for would be great. I'm not a mechanic, but know a couple that will help me out. Unfortunately they don’t have much experience with zooks, so I want to run this by people who have done it and know what they are talking about. After that my mates can help me, but I also want to learn about all of this stuff. Also, if you could post or email pics you'd be saving my dodgy imagination.

Below is a list of parts I'll need to do the job. The first part is definite requirements, the second bit lists things I might come across. Does anyone know what this stuff should cost and the best place to get it?
1. Vitara front cut (or whatever model I end up choosing)
2. Adapter kit
3. High pressure electric fuel pump
4. Belts, hoses, oil
===========
. Clutch
. Machined 1.3 flywheel


Below is a list of steps that I have put together that are required to do the install. I have attempted to put them in some sort of order, so please let me know if I've got the order wrong or missed something.

1. Remove 1.3 motor
• Drain oil from motor and gearbox
• Disconnect battery, alternator and starter electrics
• Disconnect everything (air, fuel, wiring loom, exhaust, accelerator, clutch, leads, …) – LABEL ALL WIRES
• Disconnect motor and gearbox (12 bolts)
• Remove motor and gearbox
• Cut 1.3 exhaust manifold from exhaust pipe under car, must cut at the right position for 1.6 manifold to weld on

2. Join 1.6 motor to 1.3 gearbox
• Disconnect 1.3 motor from 1.3 gearbox
• Remove 1.3 fly wheel, clutch, sump and pickup, install onto 1.6
?? Is there anything else I need from the 1.3 e.g. starter ??
• Install adaptor plate to 1.6 motor
• Connect 1.3 gearbox to 1.6 motor
• Install motor and gearbox
• Install 1.6 exhaust manifold to motor and weld to existing 1.3 exhaust pipe

3. Install fuel system
• Connect hose from filter to high pressure electric fuel pump
?? What are the rules around where I can mount the pump. I will be getting in tough with the mod plate bloke before I do any of this, but any pointers would be appreciated ??
• Run a hose from the pump to the intake manifold
• Connect the wire from computer to the pump
?? Do I need a relay or fuse? If so, where / how ??
?? If I need new wire, what should I use ??
?? Can I re-use the existing 1.6 pump if I have one ??
?? Can I avoid using a surge tank to begin with (to save $$$) ??

4. Install air intake
• Mount the 1.6 air box, this will be a custom job
• !! Try different places to see if it can be fitted without needing a body lift !!
?? Can I just reuse the 1.3 air box, what are the pros / cons ??
• Connect air box to intake manifold

5. Wiring – WOO HOO!
?? This will be the tricky part for me, can anyone give me some pointers ??
• Basically I'll be pulling the motor out of a front cut and plan to connect all of the sensors straight back up.
• The fuel line should be fine
?? I'll start to get a little stuck when need to start joining things between the old wiring loom and the new, any help ??

6. Instrument cluster / Speedo / etc.
?? How should I tackle this ??

7. DONE!!!
• Drive away and go nuts!

If you've got this far, cheers and thanks for reading. I hope you can help.

[lump_a_charcoal]

Consider a Baleno motor, I believe there is less pollution crap to worry about, but essentially the same motor. This is what I was told by a bloke, but it may be untrue...

[zooker]

For simplicity I'd stick with the vit 1.6. With the baleno it needs a bit more fabrication i.e. thermo housing and water pipe to the rear of the engine.

For the fuel setup the easiest way is to get a coily sierra tank and fit a vitara efi pump into it. All bolts straight in.

Else the next best way would be to use 2 external fuel pumps and a surge tank. One low pressure lift pump to lift the fuel into the surge tank, then the high pressure vl fuel pump from the surge tank to the engine. This is how I did my setup since i wanted to keep my long range tank. Pic below is my setup

[Damo]

This should get you started.

jonot wrote:

• Cut 1.3 exhaust manifold from exhaust pipe under car, must cut at the right position for 1.6 manifold to weld on

I just cut the Sierra exhaust at the front of the cat and made a piece to joint that to the Vit manifold. If you can get the front part of the Vitrara exhaust then great, cut off the flange that bolts to the manifold and weld that to your made up section. I used a mandrel exhaust bend and some offcuts from my local exhaust shop.

jonot wrote:

• Remove 1.3 fly wheel, clutch, sump and pickup, install onto 1.6

The sump is not a bolt on thing, it will need some modification to fit.

jonot wrote:

?? Is there anything else I need from the 1.3 e.g. starter ??

If you have the 1.6 starter use that. Otherwise you will have to modify the 1.3 starter slightly. There is an oil gallery in the casting of the 1.6 block that sticks out so the 1.3 starter wont fit. File/grind back the starter until it fits.

jonot wrote:

?? What are the rules around where I can mount the pump. I will be getting in tough with the mod plate bloke before I do any of this, but any pointers would be appreciated ??

An external pump should be gravity fed, you need to make sure it has a good supply of fuel to the inlet.

jonot wrote:

• Connect the wire from computer to the pump

The connection to the fuel pump is actually from the fuel pump relay, but that is controlled by the ECU. Make sure you use a decent size cable back to your fuel pump to avoid too much voltage drop.

jonot wrote:

?? Do I need a relay or fuse? If so, where / how ??

The loom should already have a relay.

jonot wrote:

?? Can I re-use the existing 1.6 pump if I have one ??

Yes but the Vitaras have an in tank pump. You could swap the whole tank over, or cut a hole in your existing tank and put the Vitara one in like that.

jonot wrote:

?? Can I avoid using a surge tank to begin with (to save $$$) ??

It's possible, but i'd strongly suggest going with a surge tank.

jonot wrote:

?? Can I just reuse the 1.3 air box, what are the pros / cons ??

You can, depending on the engine you get. 8v engines are very similar to the existing g13, so your intake will match up without too much hassle. 16v motors on the other hand have their air box on the opposite side of the engine bay, so that makes things more difficult.

jonot wrote:

• Basically I'll be pulling the motor out of a front cut and plan to connect all of the sensors straight back up.

Good plan, as is labelling everything as you mentioned before

jonot wrote:

?? I'll start to get a little stuck when need to start joining things between the old wiring loom and the new, any help ??

The engine loom will have to be connected to your existing vehicle's loom with connections for +12v (which is hot when ignition is on), tacho, water temp, oil pressure and probably some other things I have forgotten. I have about half a dozen wires between the 2 looms, so it's not a huge thing. The biggest issue is finding where they connect to in your engine's loom.

jonot wrote:

6. Instrument cluster / Speedo / etc.

Use the stock Sierra cluster.

[jonot]

cheers, that makes things a little more clear.

[lump_a_charcoal]

Remember to post up pics along the way!

Good luck bloke.

[jonot]

I've been in touch with people who have spent heaps on new exhausts (extractors, etc.). Would a stock Vitara exhaust be sufficient? Will it clear the chasis and engine mounts?

Also, a lot of posts I've read have said costs blew out quite a bit. I know enough people to help me do the job myself, but don't want to get half way though and find that I need to pull a grand from somewhere.
* What things will i definetly need (parts and maybe costs if you know),
* What little surprises could I find along the way (e.g. shagged clutch) and
* What would be a reasonable amount of $$$ to keep in my back pocket for things along the way (nuts, bolts, oil, beer, whatever).

Also, some people have mentioned that an alternative option is to use a vitara engine / g-box and the sierra transfer. This sounds easier as I'd only need one engine mount and gearbox mount (and wouldn't need the adapter kit).
* Is it this simple?
* Does the Vit have a divorced transfer as well?

[Damo]

jonot wrote:

I've been in touch with people who have spent heaps on new exhausts (extractors, etc.). Would a stock Vitara exhaust be sufficient? Will it clear the chasis and engine mounts?

Do you mean the exhaust manifold? My opinion is that the Vit manifold is great. If you've got one already and want to keep costs down then definitlely use it. Mine is a little different in that the engine mounts I made drop the engine by 50mm. This made the manifold to chassis clearance tight, but it still fits. The only thing about the Vit manifold is the joint where it connects to the exhaust pipe is bigger than the Sierra one, so you'll need that part of the Vitara exhaust. Have you got that bit???

jonot wrote:

Also, some people have mentioned that an alternative option is to use a vitara engine / g-box and the sierra transfer. This sounds easier as I'd only need one engine mount and gearbox mount (and wouldn't need the adapter kit).
* Is it this simple?
* Does the Vit have a divorced transfer as well?

It's not that simple. The Vit transfer is bolted to the back of the transmission. IE, it's not seperate like the Sierra. You can't just unbolt the transfer and run it like that. It is possible to mate the Sierra transmission to a g16 block without and adapter. Helicoil the top 2 holes in the block and use the stock Sierra bolts in those positions. For the bottom 2 mounts make up little brackets to pick up the mounting holes on the block. It's hard to describe, i'll get some pics soon.

[zooker]

To get an idea on cost. When I did the 16v conversion on my G16A carby motor it cost roughly $2000.

- 16v head and associated bits $600
- Fully reconditioned block with new 16v pistons $600
- Fully reconditioned the 16v head $400
-Fuel setup (2 pumps, surge tank etc) $300
- All other assorted bits along the way $2-300

So if you can pick up a G16B engine for $1000-1500 you shouldnt be looking at any more than $2500

I would suggest replacing the clutch while you have it all out, I didnt and now mines slipping and needs replacing


My opinion on the vitara manifold is mixed, If you have a good one (no cracks and the 2 pieces join together properly, check that it doesnt leak here) then dont bother with extractors.

I used the vit manifold but in the last month I noticed it was leaking where the manifold joins onto the collector(?second part of the manifold). The flange plates had warped so it wouldnt seal properly. This leak was right near the o2 sensor, so it mucked up the readings and was running the engine rich because of it. This in turn destroyed my cat converter and caused it to collapse. $240 later for a new one, and I'm buying a set of extractors because I cant be bothered to fix the stock manifold.

Just my experience

[TZAR]

too much info to be lost in th

make this a sticky

[jonot]

I dont want to take the car off the road for very long as its my daily driver, so the christmas break looks to be the time if I decide to go ahead.
It would be good to do everything I can with the 1.6 before I even think about taking the 1.3 out of my zook.

It would be good to find a spare sump now that I know I have to do some fab / modification to get the 1.3 sump onto the 1.6 block. I happen to have a 1ltr motor in bits lying around at home.

?? Does anyone know if it would be possible to use the 1 ltr sump / pickup in a similar fashion to the 1.3? This way I could get all of the fab work done for the 1.6 before I take the 1.3 out.

Also, I'm a bit confused with the starter motor. Some people have been telling me to use the 1.3 and others say the 1.6 is the way to go. I thought the starter was matched to the flywheel. So if I use the 1.6 starter, I wont need to change over the fly wheel right?

?? Will this have an impact on using the sierra gearbox?
?? Also, how will this affect the clutch I use?

[zookernator]

hows things going with the conversion mate??

[jonot]

zookernator wrote:

hows things going with the conversion mate??

Sorry I havn't replied zookernator. I've been busy being a dad and havn't had a chance to think about this again. MY zook was giving me the shits, but after chatting to some other people from other forums I managed to get it driving "ok".

I havn't had a chance to go driving again so it's god enough for me at the moment.

Also, thanks to everyone who replied to my post. Its good input for anyone looking into the conversion if nothing else.

[steveG]

Does the standard Sierra radiator cope OK with the 1.6 engine or could it do with something bigger (the Vitara radiator seems to be a lot bigger)?